Pregnant, Overweight, Out of Shape, and Exercise

I was about 30 lbs overweight to begin this pregnancy. I haven't worked out since .... October-ish. I really really want to get my body back after this baby, but currently I am so exhausted that it's hard to make it through each day. What are some things I can do to at least have an inkling of hope towards getting back in shape while pregnant?

Ok, question for any of you who'd like to offer suggestions.

I was about 30 lbs overweight to begin this pregnancy. I haven't worked out since .... October-ish. I really really want to get my body back after this baby, but currently I am so exhausted that it's hard to make it through each day. What are some things I can do to at least have an inkling of hope towards getting back in shape while pregnant?

I should have said this in my other post to you.... Start walking now. My goals are to get my arms and shoulders toned back up (the past five months have not been kind!). I figure I'll have to work on my Butt and Gut later. :) But I know walking will help all over. :)

I should have said this in my other post to you.... Start walking now. My goals are to get my arms and shoulders toned back up (the past five months have not been kind!). I figure I'll have to work on my Butt and Gut later. :) But I know walking will help all over. :)

I hate to excerise. My suggestion would be to start walking. I try to walk my dog around the block as often as I can...I only walk for about 20 minutes...maybe when the weather gets better I can up that but we also walk semi fast...actually most days she pulls me along =) Maybe you could try some sort of low impact excerise video. I know for me it is easier to do a workout at home then having to go out somewhere. I take a dance class 1 day a week so that also helps me. Hope this helps a bit.

I hate to excerise. My suggestion would be to start walking. I try to walk my dog around the block as often as I can...I only walk for about 20 minutes...maybe when the weather gets better I can up that but we also walk semi fast...actually most days she pulls me along =) Maybe you could try some sort of low impact excerise video. I know for me it is easier to do a workout at home then having to go out somewhere. I take a dance class 1 day a week so that also helps me. Hope this helps a bit.

working full time with kids already must be exhausting! i think you are a teacher? maybe walk the halls on one of your preps? i agree with the start walking now suggestions though. as soon as my broken foot is healed i plan on walking every day (fingers crossed) i know these things tend to sound easier to do than they actually are! good luck! ps you are gorgeous the way you are!!

working full time with kids already must be exhausting! i think you are a teacher? maybe walk the halls on one of your preps? i agree with the start walking now suggestions though. as soon as my broken foot is healed i plan on walking every day (fingers crossed) i know these things tend to sound easier to do than they actually are! good luck! ps you are gorgeous the way you are!!

It's going to be really hard to do anything towards being fit during pregnancy, but you can at least try to keep the rest of the weight gain in check and do a little bit each day. Just doing some walking or getting on a recumbant bicycle will help keep you a little active. I'd focus on drinking lots and lots of water. I found these great new carbonated water drinks at the grocery store. They have no sweetners, no artificial flavors or chemicals of any kind and are 0 everything. They're simply sparkling water with a little bit of natural flavoring and they taste wonderful! I started drinking them during the morning sickness stage for the carbonation and I haven't stopped. Also pay close attention to the refined sugars and white flour. Try to switch all your pasta, rice and bread to 100% whole wheat or whole grain and focus on getting 30 grams of fiber a day.

After this pregnancy to get my body back, this is what I plan on doing and has worked very well in the past: no sugar, no rice, no flour of any kind, no chemicals including alcohol and definitely no processed foods. At least an hour of cardio 5-7 days a week with interval training and lots of weight lifting and ab exercises. Of course there are days when I'll want to have a beer or two or go out for an ice cream or something, and that's totally fine as long as it's in moderation. After you're down to the size you want to be, you can add whole grains back into the diet in moderation, but keep the sugars down and stay away from processed foods. Cooking at home with whole fruits and veggies and healthy meats and cheeses is the key. :)

Good luck!! I'm right there with you. I'm already up 25 pounds at 22 weeks and it's rough on the psyche. I can't wait to be able to diet and workout hard again. :)

It's going to be really hard to do anything towards being fit during pregnancy, but you can at least try to keep the rest of the weight gain in check and do a little bit each day. Just doing some walking or getting on a recumbant bicycle will help keep you a little active. I'd focus on drinking lots and lots of water. I found these great new carbonated water drinks at the grocery store. They have no sweetners, no artificial flavors or chemicals of any kind and are 0 everything. They're simply sparkling water with a little bit of natural flavoring and they taste wonderful! I started drinking them during the morning sickness stage for the carbonation and I haven't stopped. Also pay close attention to the refined sugars and white flour. Try to switch all your pasta, rice and bread to 100% whole wheat or whole grain and focus on getting 30 grams of fiber a day.

After this pregnancy to get my body back, this is what I plan on doing and has worked very well in the past: no sugar, no rice, no flour of any kind, no chemicals including alcohol and definitely no processed foods. At least an hour of cardio 5-7 days a week with interval training and lots of weight lifting and ab exercises. Of course there are days when I'll want to have a beer or two or go out for an ice cream or something, and that's totally fine as long as it's in moderation. After you're down to the size you want to be, you can add whole grains back into the diet in moderation, but keep the sugars down and stay away from processed foods. Cooking at home with whole fruits and veggies and healthy meats and cheeses is the key. :)

Good luck!! I'm right there with you. I'm already up 25 pounds at 22 weeks and it's rough on the psyche. I can't wait to be able to diet and workout hard again. :)

something that helped me lose weight was just keeping track of what I was eating. I wrote down every little thing even if it was a lick of peanut butter or a fingertip of frosting. I found that I was eating a lot more than I thought, and a lot more junk.

Another thing you can do is start drinking only water, maybe a glass of skim milk (extra calcium for those preggy needs). And slowly change to more healthy options. I started doing only water for a few weeks. Then I did healthy breakfast every day. A couple weeks later I was doing all water, healthy breakfast, healthy morning snack. I kept adding on to the list until I only had one small unhealthy snack a day. You do need more calories when your pregnant but make them count! Getting calories from junk doesn't help you or baby. I'm having a hard time with that since I've been pregnant.

I read your other post too about after baby weight. I have 2 kids now aged 3 and 23 months. After I had ds, more than 6 months later, I was 5'3" and weighed 186 pounds, so 60 pounds overweight. I started doing p90x which is a set of dvd workouts you do at your own home. The hardest part for me was actually committing to doing it everyday. After doing 60 days or so I quit (went on vacation and never got back into it). I then just took daily walks with the double stroller and counted my calories. I actually used this website to track my calories and my workouts, it's free and really helped me keep track, plus it has almost any food ever on it (either separately like mustard, hamburger, bun or together like McDonald's big mac) http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/learn_more I loved this website because it tells you how many calories you've eaten, how many you have left, how much you worked out and what you burned, etc. Another thing is find a friend who wants to lose weight and keep each other on track. I found a non-judgmental friend and we agreed to text every single thing we had eaten and our workouts. It makes you more accountable when you have to type to a friend hey I just ate 4 candy bars lol.

I got within 10 pounds of my goal weight, and it was a lot of time and effort with a lot of failures mixed in. I'd get down in weight then fall off the wagon and gain 10 back, etc.

You can do it, you just have to really make the commitment and when you tell yourself I'm tired I just want to watch TV and chill, think HELL NO get off your A$$ and move it!

I would love to be a workout buddy with you after our babies are born if you want! I will need someone to help keep me on track. My facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/jackihavens if you want to be buddies and try and do this together. I don't judge because hell the other day I ate a brownie about every hour. All I want is chocolate and I'm having no trouble giving in to my cravings =/

something that helped me lose weight was just keeping track of what I was eating. I wrote down every little thing even if it was a lick of peanut butter or a fingertip of frosting. I found that I was eating a lot more than I thought, and a lot more junk.

Another thing you can do is start drinking only water, maybe a glass of skim milk (extra calcium for those preggy needs). And slowly change to more healthy options. I started doing only water for a few weeks. Then I did healthy breakfast every day. A couple weeks later I was doing all water, healthy breakfast, healthy morning snack. I kept adding on to the list until I only had one small unhealthy snack a day. You do need more calories when your pregnant but make them count! Getting calories from junk doesn't help you or baby. I'm having a hard time with that since I've been pregnant.

I read your other post too about after baby weight. I have 2 kids now aged 3 and 23 months. After I had ds, more than 6 months later, I was 5'3" and weighed 186 pounds, so 60 pounds overweight. I started doing p90x which is a set of dvd workouts you do at your own home. The hardest part for me was actually committing to doing it everyday. After doing 60 days or so I quit (went on vacation and never got back into it). I then just took daily walks with the double stroller and counted my calories. I actually used this website to track my calories and my workouts, it's free and really helped me keep track, plus it has almost any food ever on it (either separately like mustard, hamburger, bun or together like McDonald's big mac) http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/learn_more I loved this website because it tells you how many calories you've eaten, how many you have left, how much you worked out and what you burned, etc. Another thing is find a friend who wants to lose weight and keep each other on track. I found a non-judgmental friend and we agreed to text every single thing we had eaten and our workouts. It makes you more accountable when you have to type to a friend hey I just ate 4 candy bars lol.

I got within 10 pounds of my goal weight, and it was a lot of time and effort with a lot of failures mixed in. I'd get down in weight then fall off the wagon and gain 10 back, etc.

You can do it, you just have to really make the commitment and when you tell yourself I'm tired I just want to watch TV and chill, think HELL NO get off your A$$ and move it!

I would love to be a workout buddy with you after our babies are born if you want! I will need someone to help keep me on track. My facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/#!/jackihavens if you want to be buddies and try and do this together. I don't judge because hell the other day I ate a brownie about every hour. All I want is chocolate and I'm having no trouble giving in to my cravings =/

I also wanted to add a note about prenatal yoga. I did a regular yoga class and I was sore in places that I didn't really want to be sore (around my belly area), so I've decided to get a prenatal yoga video. I haven't done it yet, but I think you can buy them at a lot of places and of course online. It should be great for those days we just really don't want to go outside.

I also wanted to add a note about prenatal yoga. I did a regular yoga class and I was sore in places that I didn't really want to be sore (around my belly area), so I've decided to get a prenatal yoga video. I haven't done it yet, but I think you can buy them at a lot of places and of course online. It should be great for those days we just really don't want to go outside.

i hear you! getting going is the hardest part. once your going your fine. or at least thats how i am. is there someone at work you could buddy up with? i need that kick in the butt to get me going! try to get the walking in but dont stress it too much! enjoy your pregnancy :-)

i hear you! getting going is the hardest part. once your going your fine. or at least thats how i am. is there someone at work you could buddy up with? i need that kick in the butt to get me going! try to get the walking in but dont stress it too much! enjoy your pregnancy :-)

I'm sorry...but WHAT?!?! Lol!! You are gorgeous!!! I would LOVE to be your size! Lol...when I read the title I was picturing someone my size. Lol!Okay...I'm sorry enough of that. I do understand where you are coming from. All you can do now is eat healthy and walk when you can. I highly recommend prenatal yoga!! It feels great and it really works your muscles in a way that walking alone can't. I have to say also you just feel great afterwards! So calm and serene and limber. The baby is on my sciatic and sometimes I can't even stand let alone walk and the yoga helps Sooooo much! I had never done it before until a week ago and I will do it for life! I Love it!

And please remember that you are BEAUTIFUL!! :)

I'm sorry...but WHAT?!?! Lol!! You are gorgeous!!! I would LOVE to be your size! Lol...when I read the title I was picturing someone my size. Lol!Okay...I'm sorry enough of that. I do understand where you are coming from. All you can do now is eat healthy and walk when you can. I highly recommend prenatal yoga!! It feels great and it really works your muscles in a way that walking alone can't. I have to say also you just feel great afterwards! So calm and serene and limber. The baby is on my sciatic and sometimes I can't even stand let alone walk and the yoga helps Sooooo much! I had never done it before until a week ago and I will do it for life! I Love it!

I'm a lilttle bigger to begin with as week... I always said I would walk and eat good when I was pregnant... Eating good has been up and down, i refuse to eat like my SiL did (she ate fast food for every meal) but after work I'm so tired I can't get my self to walking. I'm on my feet for 8 hours and maybe walk around our store for an 30 mins.... An my days off I'm usually out running errands so I guess I'm walking...

I'm a lilttle bigger to begin with as week... I always said I would walk and eat good when I was pregnant... Eating good has been up and down, i refuse to eat like my SiL did (she ate fast food for every meal) but after work I'm so tired I can't get my self to walking. I'm on my feet for 8 hours and maybe walk around our store for an 30 mins.... An my days off I'm usually out running errands so I guess I'm walking...

Like everyone said, Walking .... Its low impact so it wont hurt your knees and ankles and its great for you .... you can even buy ankle and wrist weights to get a little bit more out of your walk ....

Im not sure if they recommend pregnant woman being in pools but water aerobics is fantastic too ... you get a nice workout without the strain on joints etc as regular aerobics .... and omg its so relaxing, I always felt great after doing my water aerobics class ... wish it was available were I live, Id find out if its ok from the doc and start again ...

Like everyone said, Walking .... Its low impact so it wont hurt your knees and ankles and its great for you .... you can even buy ankle and wrist weights to get a little bit more out of your walk ....

Im not sure if they recommend pregnant woman being in pools but water aerobics is fantastic too ... you get a nice workout without the strain on joints etc as regular aerobics .... and omg its so relaxing, I always felt great after doing my water aerobics class ... wish it was available were I live, Id find out if its ok from the doc and start again ...

Thanks for all the feedback ladies, you rock! Hubby and I walked for an hour yesterday and it was wonderful! (Moreso the time with him than the walk :) ) Got home, took off my shoes, and said, wow... it's time for a pedicure :)

I have a membership to Gold's so I'm gonna see if maybe swimming would be easier on me, too. They should have water aerobics when summer comes back around and I actually emailed them on that yesterday.

I really appreciate you guys! You're awesome! (And pretty!)

Thanks for all the feedback ladies, you rock! Hubby and I walked for an hour yesterday and it was wonderful! (Moreso the time with him than the walk :) ) Got home, took off my shoes, and said, wow... it's time for a pedicure :)

I have a membership to Gold's so I'm gonna see if maybe swimming would be easier on me, too. They should have water aerobics when summer comes back around and I actually emailed them on that yesterday.

I have also been getting a little concernd with the weight gain. I spent my entire life as a fat girl until 6/2009 when I had Gastric Bypass surgery. I had lost about 95lbs when I got pregnant 17 months after surgery. And even though I had reached my personal weight loss goal, I was still 20 lbs heavier than my surgeons goal for me. I was doing great with the weight until about 2 weeks ago. I almost fainted at Zumba class when my sugar dropped way down to 56. My DH put a screaching halt to all exercise for about a week & 1/2. Now, I am starting to see the scale rise by the lb every single morning and it's freaking me out.I am 22 weeks now and I can't allow myself to gain over 10 more pounds for the remainder of my pregnancy.

I'd be willing to join a weight control/exercise group if any of us are interested..

I have also been getting a little concernd with the weight gain. I spent my entire life as a fat girl until 6/2009 when I had Gastric Bypass surgery. I had lost about 95lbs when I got pregnant 17 months after surgery. And even though I had reached my personal weight loss goal, I was still 20 lbs heavier than my surgeons goal for me. I was doing great with the weight until about 2 weeks ago. I almost fainted at Zumba class when my sugar dropped way down to 56. My DH put a screaching halt to all exercise for about a week & 1/2. Now, I am starting to see the scale rise by the lb every single morning and it's freaking me out.I am 22 weeks now and I can't allow myself to gain over 10 more pounds for the remainder of my pregnancy.

I'd be willing to join a weight control/exercise group if any of us are interested..

First, I join with the pp -- I'm pretty sure I remember from past photos you've posted that you look great. I don't, but I can honestly claim that I know a lot about diet and exercise and can give good advice even if I don't always follow it myself.

I think it's great you went for a long walk but don't overdo when you're starting out. Great intentions can be destroyed if you are exhausted after the first few efforts to fit in exercise, so start slowly and build up.

For walking, try to find places you can walk in your area in order to accomplish a daily or semi daily task. Hard sometimes in the burbs, but if you can do it, it becomes a part of your day you look forward to and kind of sneaks your exercise in when you're not looking. I moved to downtown DC during my last pregnancy and started walking to work and I got more fit while I was pregnant without even noticing I was doing it.

I also think swimming is a great idea. It's literally the most well-rounded exercise there is.

BTW, you've inspired me. I swear, I'm going to take my own advice and get to the gym tomorrow morning (for the first time in weeks).

First, I join with the pp -- I'm pretty sure I remember from past photos you've posted that you look great. I don't, but I can honestly claim that I know a lot about diet and exercise and can give good advice even if I don't always follow it myself.

I think it's great you went for a long walk but don't overdo when you're starting out. Great intentions can be destroyed if you are exhausted after the first few efforts to fit in exercise, so start slowly and build up.

For walking, try to find places you can walk in your area in order to accomplish a daily or semi daily task. Hard sometimes in the burbs, but if you can do it, it becomes a part of your day you look forward to and kind of sneaks your exercise in when you're not looking. I moved to downtown DC during my last pregnancy and started walking to work and I got more fit while I was pregnant without even noticing I was doing it.

I also think swimming is a great idea. It's literally the most well-rounded exercise there is.

BTW, you've inspired me. I swear, I'm going to take my own advice and get to the gym tomorrow morning (for the first time in weeks).

Im a FTM but heres what Im doing. I dont come close to exercising as I used to but Im doing what I can within limits.

Walk 45 min a few days a week. I take my dog for long walks around the neighborhood. Now thats its getting nicer it helps. Friends ask to come along too now that its nice :)

I still go to the gym. I hit the eliptical for 45 min when there and do some light weights

Prenatal videos - these have been a life saver. When I dont feel like going to the gym I can use these. There not intense at all but at least Im doing something.

In all I probably get 3-4 days of exercise in. Its not every day but Im expecting twins and dont want to over do it anyway.

Also, be aware of what your eating. Im human and I eat bad stuff sometimes. I cut out sugar in my 1 cup of coffee a day, sodas and juices. Things like that. You can keep track of what your eating too if you want to keep on top of it. I noticed I was eating crappy things I wouldnt normally eat and thought o well, Im pregnant. I know I'll regret that after I give birth.

Sorry so long but hopefully some advice will help.

Im a FTM but heres what Im doing. I dont come close to exercising as I used to but Im doing what I can within limits.

Walk 45 min a few days a week. I take my dog for long walks around the neighborhood. Now thats its getting nicer it helps. Friends ask to come along too now that its nice :)

I still go to the gym. I hit the eliptical for 45 min when there and do some light weights

Prenatal videos - these have been a life saver. When I dont feel like going to the gym I can use these. There not intense at all but at least Im doing something.

In all I probably get 3-4 days of exercise in. Its not every day but Im expecting twins and dont want to over do it anyway.

Also, be aware of what your eating. Im human and I eat bad stuff sometimes. I cut out sugar in my 1 cup of coffee a day, sodas and juices. Things like that. You can keep track of what your eating too if you want to keep on top of it. I noticed I was eating crappy things I wouldnt normally eat and thought o well, Im pregnant. I know I'll regret that after I give birth.

I try to get my exercise in first thing before the excuses pile up. Right now.. I'm doing a 21 minute interval walk on the treadmill before the kids get up. It used to be 42 mintues... but I was dying.

Good luck!

I try to get my exercise in first thing before the excuses pile up. Right now.. I'm doing a 21 minute interval walk on the treadmill before the kids get up. It used to be 42 mintues... but I was dying.

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